chinguneun gichawa jadongchareul bigyohaesseoyo.

친구는 기차와 자동차를 비교했어요.chinguneun gichawa jadongchareul bigyohaesseoyo.
My friend compared the train and the car.
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Questions & Answers about chinguneun gichawa jadongchareul bigyohaesseoyo.

What does 는 in 친구는 indicate?
는 is the topic marker. It sets 친구 (“friend”) as the topic of the sentence—literally “as for my friend…”. It tells us we’re talking about the friend, rather than merely marking the grammatical subject.
Could I use 가 instead of 는 in this sentence? What’s the difference?

Yes. 가 is the subject marker, so 친구가 would simply mean “the friend did (the action).” The nuance difference:

  • 친구는 (with 는) often implies contrast or emphasis (“as for my friend…”).
  • 친구가 is a neutral statement of subject (“my friend did it”).
What role does 와 play in 기차와 자동차를?
와 is the conjunctive particle meaning “and” (used after vowel-final nouns). Here it joins 기차 and 자동차 to form “train and car.”
Can I use 하고 or 과 instead of 와? Are there any differences?

Yes. They all mean “and,” but:

  • 와/과: slightly more formal, follow the vowel/consonant rule (와 after vowels, 과 after consonants).
  • 하고: casual, works after any noun.
    Meaning stays the same; only the formality or style changes.
Why is there only one 를 after 자동차 and none after 기차?
When you connect multiple direct objects with 와/과, you place the object marker -를 only on the last noun in the list. Thus 기차와 자동차를 means “the train and the car” collectively as the objects of 비교했어요.
What does the ending -했어요 tell us about the verb?

-했어요 is the polite past tense of 하다.

  • 했- is the past stem (from 하다)
  • -어요 is the polite speech ending
    So 비교했어요 means “(someone) compared…” in a polite, past-tense form.
What is the dictionary (base) form of 비교했어요?
The base form is 비교하다 (“to compare”). You form it by removing -했- and replacing -어요 with -다.
Can 친구는 be omitted if the context is clear? What changes?

Yes. Korean often drops the topic/subject when it’s obvious.

  • 기차와 자동차를 비교했어요 still means “(He/She) compared trains and cars.”
    You simply rely on conversational context for who did the comparing.
Is Korean word order flexible? Could I change the order, like 기차와 자동차를 친구는 비교했어요, or swap 기차 and 자동차?

Because particles show each word’s role, you can reorder for emphasis:

  • 기차와 자동차를 친구는 비교했어요 places extra focus on 친구는 at the end.
  • 기차를 자동차와 비교했어요 (“compared the train with the car”) is also fine; swapping objects doesn’t change the essential meaning, though the first-mentioned item may get slight emphasis.